Hotcourses launches direct-to-uni application service

Global online study directory, Hotcourses Abroad, has taken the logical leap from providing comprehensive information about education opportunities to enabling its customers to apply directly to universities. The new i-Apply system, launched around two weeks ago, has already proved a success, says the company, which serves 15 million students a year seeking information about education opportunities.

A screenshot of the new application service launched by Hotcourses

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About Amy BakerAmy Baker is a founder of The PIE News and has been writing and working in international education since 1997. She is the recipient of the IEAA Award for Excellence in Professional Commentary.

"The ability to apply online is the final step in this journey"

Mike Elms, CEO of Hotcourses, told The PIE News that i-Apply was currently in trial mode with a limited 20 institutions signed up to receive direct applications. The application service – which enables students to apply to multiple institutions and is only in English-medium at the moment – uses a service team in India that follows up with each applicant.

So far, over 100 students have completed the fairly rigourous application process within two weeks of launch. The i-Apply counselling team then verify academic and English level qualifications and process the application on to the university.

If i-Apply gains momentum, it could become a global force in international education, offering students one platform to apply across borders. Institutions pay an annual fee to be able to use the system.

“We have over 15 million students using our network of 20 local sites in 15 languages around the world for search, compare, shortlist and enquire, and the ability to apply online is the final step in this journey,” commented Mike Elms, CEO of Hotcourses.

He added, “The number of students that have completed applications since the service was launched really underlines the quality of students that use our web products and their serious commitment to studying abroad.”

The current trial universities include the University of Iowa in the USA, the University of Dundee in Scotland and RMIT in Australia. Nationalities likely to use the system thus far include Indians, Ghanians, Kenyans and Saudis, although 11 different nationalities have already used i-Apply.

Hotcourses Abroad also has a sister site, Hotcourses, which details study opportunities within the UK for the domestic market.

Is that the sort of check you would expect an agent to carry out or is that typically the role of the institution? Clearly Hotcourses is playing the role of an agent here with a virtual shop-front while the students are lead to believe that they are applying directly to the institution.

I also found it odd that the form asks for confidential yet unnecessary information such as the passport number (!) and yet does not ask for academic transcripts. Bizarre.

Ultimately it seems that the institutions will need to carry out their own verifications of everything, so I don’t see what Hotcourses are adding to the process other than potentially spam applications.

The most appropriate timing for FundsV depends on the market. For students intent on studying in the USA, host institutions embed their unique FundsV link within their .edu domain; only those host institutions may access data from those students they refer.

FundsV also accommodates hosts that rely on agents to recruit students, such as Indian students intent on studying in Australia. Any organization that promotes international education, and generates student leads for host institutions, can benefit from FundsV because those inquiries can be more qualified, and therefore more valuable.

We’ve seen funds verification occurring earlier in the admissions process (indeed, at the time of agent involvement), as host institutions are eager to allocate resources to prospective students most likely to obtain their student visa.

I agree with you, in that host institutions should ultimately “verify everything.” FundsV provides a secure platform for students (and their sponsors) to point their online banking data to the host that requested it. The account holders may refresh that data at any time throughout the admissions process, for no charge. (FundsV charges the host institutions or lead generator.)

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